Thursday, October 19, 2017
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Kempe has first career hat trick in Kings' win over Montreal
Adrian Kempe had his first career hat trick to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.
Michael Cammalleri scored the other two goals for the Kings, who have opened their season with their best six-game start (5-0-1) in franchise history.
Montreal (1-5-1) still hasn't won in regulation this season.
Jonathan Quick made 36 saves for the Kings.
The 21-year-old Kempe scored the go-ahead goal on a 2-on-1 breakaway for the Kings at 7:34 in the third period. He scored again at 16:42 and added another at 18:24 as hats were thrown onto the ice.
The game was tied heading into the third period before the Kings scored four times.
Paul Byron scored his first goal of the season midway through the first period, capitalizing on Derek Forbort's turnover, to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead.
On his first goal, Cammalleri batted the puck out of the air to score on a power play and tie the game at 1 in the first period. It was Cammalleri's first goal of the season and first goal as a King since 2008. The 35-year-old Cammalleri is in his second stint with the Kings. He scored the second goal midway through the third period.
Al Montoya made his first start of the season in goal for the Canadiens. Montoya relieved Carey Price on Oct. 7 and played 40 minutes but that was his only work of the season prior to Wednesday.
Alex Galchenyuk started on Montreal's top line with Max Pacioretty and Jonathan Drouin. He was called for two penalties in the first period, an illegal check to the head and slashing. The latter led to the Kings' power-play goal by Cammalleri.
The Canadiens last won on Oct. 5 in overtime.
NOTES:
Jeff Carter sustained a lower-body injury after a collision near the end of the first period and didn't return ... Canadiens defenseman David Schlemko had surgery Wednesday to remove a bone fragment in his right wrist and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks ... Right winger Justin Augler, 23, made his NHL debut for the Kings on Wednesday ... "It was Hockey Fights Cancer Night" in Los Angeles and the Kings auctioned their purple jerseys used in warmups online to benefit the cause ... It was also "Ontario Reign Night," the American League Hockey franchise of the Kings. Reign players were in attendance and shown on the JumboTron.
UP NEXT:
Canadiens: Finish their three-game roadtrip by playing the Ducks Friday in Anaheim.
Kings: Head out on their longest roadtrip of the season, a six-game, 11-day trek that starts Saturday in Columbus and ends in St. Louis.
Jaden Schwartz has hat trick, Blues beat Blackhawks 5-2
Jaden Schwartz had his third career hat trick to help the St. Louis Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Wednesday night.
Schwartz has four goals and six assists this season and has at least one point in six of the Blues' first seven games. It was his 51st career multi-point game and fourth this season.
Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist, Kyle Brodziakalso scored, and Jake Allen made 22 saves. The Blues snapped a two-game losing streak
Schwartz opened the scoring at 4:46 of the first period, tucking in a backhander off Tarasenko's feed.
Schwartz left the game eight minutes later after going awkwardly head-first into the boards after getting tangled with Richard Panik on a partial short-handed break.
Schwartz returned in the second period, and gave the Blues a 2-0 lead at 5:59. Allen's outlet pass off the boards created a 2-on-1 with Schwartz and Sammy Blais. It was Allen's fourth career assist.
Tarasenko made it 3-0 two minutes later, scoring his fifth of the season by stripping Artem Anisimov in front of the Chicago net.
St. Louis outshot Chicago 26-8 in the first two periods, including 17-4 in the second. The four shots in each of the first two periods were a season low for the Blackhawks in a period.
Brodziak scored at 7:01 of the third. It was the first time this season the Blues' third or fourth line scored.
After Keith and Hartman scored for Chicago, Schwartz completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal.
NOTES: Blackhawks television analyst Eddie Olczyk, who is battling colon cancer, received a standing ovation from the crowd of 18,752 after being recognized late in the first period. Olczyk was back in the booth for the first time since his diagnosis in August. ... Blues F Alexander Steen (broken left hand) was activated from injured reserve and made his season debut. To make room, the Blues waived F Wade Megan. ... Blues F Paul Stastny is one point shy of 600 for his career. ... Blackhawks C Nick Schmaltz (upper body) returned after missing four games.
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: Host Edmonton on Thursday night.
Blues: Travel to Colorado on Thursday night.
Maple Leafs have 4-goal 1st, beat Red Wings 6-3
Curtis McElhinney made 30 saves in his season debut and the Toronto Maple Leafs scored four times in the first period in a 6-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.
Starting in place of Frederik Andersen, McElhinney stopped 15 shots in the third period to hold off the Red Wings.
Nazem Kadri, Zach Hyman, Auston Matthews, Connor Brown, Morgan Rielly and William Nylander scored to help Toronto improve to an NHL-best 6-1-0. The Maple Leafs were coming off a 2-0 victory at Washington on Tuesday night.
Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Tatar, Jonathan Ericsson scored for the Red Wings, and Nick Jensen had three assists.
Jimmy Howard gave up three goals on four shots before getting yanked in favor of Petr Mrazek late in the first period.
Toronto scored on its first two shots and four of its first five.
The Maple Leafs opened the scoring after catching the Red Wings on a bad line change. Kadri took a long pass from Ron Hainsey, walked in and beat Howard over the blocker at 5:56. Hyman scored 44 seconds later, tipping Rielly's shot past Howard.
Zetterberg put Detroit on the board with 7:50 to play in the first after getting McElhinney to bite on a fake before skating around the net and finishing on a wraparound with the netminder out of position.
Matt Martin didn't record Toronto's third shot on net until near the 14-minute mark of the period and it turned out to be the only save of the night for Howard.
Matthews chased Howard from the Wings net with 4:14 to play in the first, snapping a shot past him from almost the exact same spot Kadri did to open the scoring. Mrazek didn't fare any better, with Brown beating him through a screen on the first shot he faced - 40 seconds after Matthews' goal.
Notes: A "moment of celebration" was held before the game for Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie. He died of cancer on Tuesday at 53. ... Leafs forward Patrick Marleau played in his 1,500th NHL game.
UP NEXT
Red Wings: Host Washington on Friday night.
Maple Leafs: At Ottawa on Saturday night.
Couture scores twice in Sharks' 5-2 victory over Canadiens
Logan Couture credited a teammate for scoring his second goal. He took credit for the first one.
Couture scored a pair of goals and the San Jose Sharks extended their dominance of the Montreal Canadiens with a 5-2 victory on Tuesday night.
Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl also scored for the Sharks, who have won the past 11 home games against the Canadiens, a streak that dates to Nov. 23, 1999.
On a power play late in the third period, rookie Tim Heed took a shot off a face-off that bounced free in front of the net. Pavelski couldn't get his stick on it but managed to kick it across the net for Couture, who found a huge opening.
"That was pretty special," Couture said. "I don't know if he knew I was there but he kept his balance and kicked it over."
Couture opened the scoring 3:30 into the first period, grabbing a rebound off the back board, skating across the front of the net to get Price to commit and then firing into an open net.
Jonathan Drouin and Shea Weber scored for the Canadiens, who are winless since an opening night victory at the Buffalo Sabres.
"It's a very poor start from our team, from myself, from a lot of individuals," Canadiens' Max Pacioretty said. "It's a good time to look in the mirror and see what we're made of because a lot of people are probably doubting this team right now."
Martin Jones stopped 28 of 30 shots for the Sharks, who finish their season-opening homestand with a 2-3 record.
"The biggest thing is finding that energy for the whole game," Jones said. "We started OK and then we got better as the night went on."
Carey Price, who stopped 31 of 35 shots, fell to 2-7-1 in 10 games against the Sharks.
The Canadiens responded 36 seconds later when Drouin picked up a pass from Artturi Lehkonen close in and fired it over Jones' left shoulder and into the net.
Pavelski gave the Sharks the lead for good when he redirected Kevin Labanc's shot just under a minute into the second period. The shot hit Weber's left shin pad and bounced into the net.
"There were a lot of good things out there," Pavelski said. "We didn't have the homestand we wanted but we can leave on a positive note to take on the road."
Hertl padded the lead midway through the second on a power play. Standing on the right side of the net, he was trying to control a pass from Joe Thornton but the puck fluttered off his stick and got behind Price.
"I'll take it any way I can get it," Hertl said. "There are times I've had great shots that just bounced off the post."
Weber's power-play goal two minutes later kicked off Jones' skates for the score.
The Sharks needed five seconds to score on a power play late in the second period. Tim Heed shot on goal and it bounced off Pavelski's skate. Couture picked it up and found a huge opening.
NOTES: After allowing three power play goals over their first five penalty kills, the Sharks killed off 14 straight until Weber scored in the second period. ... Couture recorded his 24th career multi-goal game. ... Sharks D Tim Heed recorded his first NHL point with an assist on Couture's power-play goal. ... Brendan Gallagher needs one assist for 100 with the Canadiens.
UP NEXT:
Canadiens: plays at the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday in their second back-to-back of the season.
Sharks: open a five-game road trip on the east coast with a game at the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
Perron leads Vegas past the Sabres in overtime, 5-4
They may carry the label of an expansion team, but the Vegas Golden Knights certainly aren't playing like one.
In fact, they're the best team in the Western Conference.
David Perron scored two goals, including the game-winner with 1:08 left in overtime, to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 5-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.
And with the win, Vegas (5-1-0) is the first Western Conference team to 10 points.
"I think it's a better team than people expected," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "The guys are working hard and chipping in, we've got some good hockey players. They're scoring goals and tonight we needed every one of them. They found a way in overtime after giving up three goals and found a way to win."
The Golden Knights are tied with three other teams that have 10 points, sitting just behind Tampa Bay, which has 11.
Vegas is the second team in league history to win five of their first six games in their first season, joining the 1917-18 Montreal Canadiens.
But Tuesday's win didn't come easy, as the Sabres scored three third-period goals - two on a power play - in less than 10 minutes, including Evander Kane's game-tying goal with 8.9 seconds left in regulation.
"When we go back and look at the last 10 minutes when they scored three goals, they got a couple lucky goals, they got some power play goals," Gallant said. "We took too many penalties in the last period. I gotta give the other team credit too."
Reilly Smith had a goal and an assist for Golden Knights, while goalie Malcolm Subban, who was appearing in just his second game for the Golden Knights in place of Marc Andre Fleury, and making his fourth-ever NHL start, stopped 34 of 38 shots.
"You don't wanna over exert yourself, but at the same time you've got to be ready," Subban said. "They got a lot of traffic to the net. The team helped me out a lot. It's a great team effort and we're just happy to get the win."
Buffalo opened the scoring in the first period, taking a 1-0 lead with 13:36 left in the first period, when Ryan O'Reilly's shot from the circle was blocked by Subban, but continued its momentum and trickled into the net.
The Golden Knights capitalized on a turnover and tied the game when Smith found Oscar Lindberg for an easy goal past Buffalo netminder Chad Johnson with 5:45 left in the first period.
Alex Tuch, who was called up from the American Hockey League's Chicago Wolves prior to Sunday's game against the Boston Bruins, scored his second goal in as many games when he tipped Deryk Engelland's shot past Johnson to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead.
Smith wrist shot late in the second period pushed Vegas' lead to 3-1, while Perron's first goal extended the advantage to 4-1 early in the third.
Buffalo wouldn't go away, however, as O'Reilly cut Vegas' lead in half with a wrist shot past Subban, in the upper right corner, eight seconds into a two-man advantage.
With 1:58, on the power play again, Rasmus Ristolainen's wrist shot found its way past Subban to cut Vegas' lead to one, 4-3.
"The disappointing part is we didn't play that way for 60 minutes," Kane said. "You can't wait `til it's 3-1 or 4-1 to get grittier. It's frustrating because I know we can play like that. We've proven it, we've showed it. You can't take periods off or you can't take shifts off. You gotta work."
The Sabres (1-4-2) finished a four-game road trip that spanned six days, going 1-3 against Pacific Division foes.
NOTES: The Golden Knights continued to struggle with power-play opportunities, scoring on just 1 of 5 attempts in the game. They are 2 for 26 this season on the power play. ... Vegas selected William Carrier from the Sabres in the Expansion Draft. ... Since 1970, the Buffalo Sabres are now 14-3-1 all-time in their first game against teams that joined the league via expansion. ... The Sabres are 10-4-4 all-time when visiting a new expansion team. ... Buffalo dropped to 9-15-1 all-time on Oct. 17. ... Sabres right wing Kyle Okposo will celebrate his 600th career game his next time on the ice.
UP NEXT
Buffalo: hosts Vancouver on Friday.
Vegas: hosts St. Louis on Saturday.
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